Surgical needle holder

ABSTRACT

A surgical needle holder having a pair of grasping jaws movable in opposition to each other in response to elongated scissor arms which are pivotally mounted to each other, at the jaws being offset from the plane of movement of the scissor arms, at least one of the jaws comprising a hemispherical member rotatably mounted to one of the offsets and engageable to the opposing jaw upon movement of the arms toward each other.

United States Patent [191 Santos Jan. 9, 1973 [54] SURGICAL NEEDLE HOLDER FOREIGN PATENTS 0R APPLICATIONS Inventor: Manuel Santos, 115 Ferry Street, 416,689 7/1925 Germany ..l28/334R Newark, NJ. 07105 22 Filed: June 25 1970 Primary Examiner-Dalton L. Truluck Attorney-Popper, Bain, Bobis & Gilfillan [211 App]. No.: 49,597 r [57] ABSTRACT U-S. A urgical needle holder having a pair of grasping jaws [5 Ill. Cl. movable in opposition to each other in response to Field of Search 334 R elongated scissor arms which are pivotally mounted to each other, at the jaws being offset from the plane of References Cited movement of the scissor arms, at least one of the jaws comprising a hemispherical member rotatably UNITED STATES PATENTS mounted to one of the offsets and engageable to the 862,619 8/1907 Driest ..l28/340 opposing jaw upon movement of the arms toward each 2,631,585 3/1953 Siebrandt ..128/32l X other,

439,910 11/1890 Truax ..128/340 3,120,847 2/1964 Cavaness ..128/340 4 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PAIENIEDJAN 9 ms INVENTOR MANUEL VALENTE SANTOS A T TORNE YS SURGICAL NEEDLE HOLDER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION A wide variety of surgical needle holders are known. Almost all comprise a pair of scissor handles pivotally mounted to each other and having a pair of gripping jaws movable in opposition to each other. Most of the jaws are provided with opposed serrations or other means for gripping a needle.

Surgical needles are almost invariably arcuate and many have a non-circular cross-sectional configuration. In some cases, the cross-sectional configuration varies along the needle.

When in use, the holder is generally inserted within an incision to a remote, tissue bearing area where the needle must be employed for suturing. As a result, the needle must be oriented at various angles to the plane of movement of the scissor handles depending upon the particular location which must be reached.

It is among the objects and advantages of the present invention to provide a surgical needle holder which may tightly grasp a needle in an infinite number of positions in a plane generally perpendicular to the plane of movement of the scissor like arms of the holder.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a needle holder as aforesaid in which the jaws are adapted to accommodate for irregularities in the shape of the needle without sacrificing rigidity during use.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a needle holder as aforesaid in which at least one of the jaws of the holder is rotatably mounted to the end of an offset displaced from the plane of movement of the scissor like handles to provide great latitude of positioning of the needle and ease of change of position thereof.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION A surgizal needle holder comprising a pair of arms pivotally mounted to each other intermediate their ends, offsets on the ends of each of the arms on one side of the pivot displaced from the plane of pivotal movement of the arms, a pair of jaws on the offsets engageable to each other when the arms are drawn together, at least one of said jaws being rotatably mounted to an offset and rotatable in a plane generally normal to the plane of pivotal movement of the arm.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF INVENTION The objects and advantages aforesaid as well as other objects and advantages may be achieved by the surgical needle holder claimed herein a preferred embodiment of which is illustrated in the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the surgical needle holder;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the surgical holder;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged side elevational cross-sectional view of the jaws of the needle holder spaced apart from each other;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged, end elevational view of the jaws of the needle holder spaced apart from each other.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of an oscillatable jaw mounted on an offset on one of the arms of the needle holder;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of an immovable jaw mounted on an offset on the other arm of the needle holder.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, the needle holder comprises a pair of arms 11 and 12 which are pivotally mounted to each other by means of a pin 13. The arm 12 is provided with a slot 14 through which the end of arm 11 passes. The pin 13 being internal to the slot 14. The ends of the arms 11 and 12 are provided with the usual rings 15 and 16 respectively. In addition, the arms 11 and 12 are also provided with interlocking legs 17 and 18 which are adapted to interengage to hold the jaws of the holder together.

The arms 11 and 12, their pivotal juncture, the finger rings 15 and 16 and the interlocking elements 17 and 18 are conventional and their specific structure a mere matter of choice.

A pair of offsets 19 and 20 are formed on the ends of arms 11 and 12 respectively on the side opposite the pivot point or pin 13. The offsets 19 and 20 are displaced to one side of the plane of movement of the arms 11 and 12.

A pair of jaws 21 and 22 are formed on the terminal ends of offsets 19 and 20 respectively and are engageable with each other upon drawing arms 11 and 12 together.

Jaw 21 comprises a generally hollow, hemispherical body 23 having an annular serrated clamping face 24.

The opposing jaw 22 comprises a generally hollow, hemispherical body portion 25 and an annular, serrated clamping surface 26. A pin 27 formed on the bottom of the hollow, hemispherical body 25 extends through a transverse bore 28 in the offset 20. The end 29 of the pin 27 is deformed to retain it to the offset 20. The pin 27 and bore 28 are dimensioned to rotatably mount the jaw 22 to the offset 20 as well as to provide limited rocking movement of the jaw 22. 1

In operation, a suturing needle 30 is clamped between jaws 21 and 22. Since the jaws 21 and 22 are located on the ends of offsets 19 and 20, the needle 30 may take any number of positions about a plane generally perpendicular to the plane of pivotal movement of the arms 11 and 12 as illustrated in FIG. 2. Preferably, the offsets 21 and 22 are more narrow than the body of arms 11 and 12 and the clamping jaws 21 and 22 are sufficiently displaced from the plane of pivotal movement of the arms 11 and 12 to permit a needle 30 to be gripped therein and extend generally parallel to the plane of arms 11 and 12. Thus, the needle 30 may be oriented both parallel to the plane of the arms 11 and 12 and perpendicular thereto and at an infinite number of positions in between.

Since jaw 22 is rotatable on offset 20, it may move slightly to adjust its position to tightly and securely clamp a needle of any cross-sectional configuration. In addition, the slight oscillatory movement of the jaw 22 also provides for sure gripping of irregularly shaped, arcuate needles.

The foregoing description is merely intended to illustrate an embodiment of the invention. The component parts have been shown and described. They each may have substitutes which may perform a substantially similar function; such substitutes may be known as proper substitutes for the said components and may have actually been known or invented before the present invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A surgical needle holder comprising,

of said clamping surfaces,

f. at least one of said jaws being rotatable generally in the plane of its clamping surface, the axis of rotation of said rotatable jaw being limitedly oscillatable.

2. A surgical needle holder comprising,

a. the structure in accordance with claim 1 in which b. the clamping jaws are sufficiently displaced from the plane of pivotal movement of the arms to grasp a needle lying in a plane generally parallel to but displaced to one side of the said plane of the arms.

3. A surgical needle holder comprising,

a. the structure in accordance with claim 1 in which b. the rotatable jaw comprises a generally hollow,

hemispherical body member,

0. an annular clamping surface on the rotatable jaw,

d. a pin formed on the bottom of the said body member. the pin being secured within a bore in the offset.

4. A surgical needle holder comprising,

a. the structure in accordance with claim 3 in which b. the clamping jaws are sufficiently displaced from the plane of pivotal movement of the arms to grasp a needle lying in a plane generally parallel to but displaced to one side of the said plane of the arms. 

1. A surgical needle holder comprising, a. a pair of arms pivotally mounted to each other intermediate their ends, b. generally opposed offsets on the ends of each of the arms on one side of the pivot displaced from a plane of pivotal movement of the arms, c. a pair of generally opposed jaws on the offsets, d. opposed annular serrated clamping surfaces on each of the jaws, the said clamping surfaces being substantially entirely engageable to each other in mating relationship when the arms are drawn together, e. a depression in each of the jaws within the confines of said clamping surfaces, f. at least one of said jaws being rotatable generally in the plane of its clamping surface, the axis of rotation of said rotatable jaw being limitedly oscillatable.
 2. A surgical needle holder comprising, a. the structure in accordance with claim 1 in which b. the clamping jaws are sufficiently displaced from the plane of pivotal movement of the arms to grasp a needle lying in a plane generally parallel to but displaced to one side of the said plane of the arms.
 3. A surgical needle holder comprising, a. the structure in accordance with claim 1 in which b. the rotatable jaw comprises a generally hollow, hemispherical body member, c. an annular clamping surface on the rotatable jaw, d. a pin formed on the bottom of the said body member, the pin being secured within a bore in the offset.
 4. A surgical needle holder comprising, a. the structure in accordance with claim 3 in which b. the clamping jaws are sufficiently displaced from the plane of pivotal movement of the arms to grasp a needle lying in a plane generally parallel to but displaced to one side of the said plane of the arms. 